Monday, July 11, 2016

Farm lobbies meet with Clinton campaign, trying for similar meeting with Trump's camp

Farm lobbyists met with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign on June 24 and are trying to initiate a similar meeting with Republican Donald Trump, Chris Clayton reports for DTN The Progressive Farmer. Jay Vroom, president and CEO for CropLife America, told Clayton, "Our approach was to come in from a bipartisan standpoint to say we just never felt like any of us individually or collectively in the past have been more organized or strategic about interfacing with presidential candidates in the general election campaign. We thought to try to do so was a good idea and that was step one."

The most "pressing issue for the ag leaders is trade, especially given that candidates from both parties were hostile to trade agreements early in the primary cycle," Clayton writes. "Vroom said farm groups and trade supporters need to better express the net value of agricultural exports to the overall economy, including American workers."

"Speaking with Clinton's staff, the farm groups also stressed science-based regulatory policies for agriculture and general farm policy with the reality that the next president will work with Congress to craft a 2018 farm bill," Clayton writes. "The farm groups also brought up the Food Safety Modernization Act, which the FDA is continuing to draft and implement rules that are increasingly encroaching on the farm gate. Vroom said FDA needs the resources to carry out responsibilities under the law and also work with states to get uniformity. At the same time, the agency needs to avoid regulatory redundancy, he said."

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